Senator Patty Murray Breaks Down What You Need to Know About Congressional Attacks on Planned Parenthood

If Congress doesn't pass a continuing resolution (CR) by midnight on Friday to continue funding the government at the same levels as last year, the U.S. will once again be looking at a government shutdown.

The latest news on the budget negotiations is that some in Congress are hoping to pass a one-week extension to buy lawmakers more time to get a budget in place for the remaining fiscal year. The final details of any potential budget plan are anything but a done deal, but if history is any guide, women's health care could be on the line.

Does this sound familiar? In 2013, the U.S. government shut down for over two weeks as a side effect of strained budget negotiations. Republicans wanted to defund the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and Democrats refused to let that happen. In 2014 and 2015, a government shutdown was narrowly avoided during budget negotiations, the tension in 2015 being largely over the issue of federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

And while the issue of Planned Parenthood has not yet come up in this year's budget talk, it's not unreasonable to expect the sexual and reproductive health care provider to once again become a political bargaining chip. After all, President Donald Trump went so far as to campaign on his promise to support a government shutdown rather than continue to provide federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Two things are critical to understanding the role Planned Parenthood might play as the clock runs out on Congress passing a budget: One, that the federal government doesn't actually fund Planned Parenthood but rather reimburses it for services through claims filed through the Medicaid and Title X programs. And two, that playing games with women's health is a tried-and-true Republican strategy, according to Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the Senate Assistant Minority Leader.

"At this point, Republicans have not put anything in the CR that attacks women's health, but my experience here over many years is that they wait until the last minute when everything is settled and say, 'Oh by the way,'" says Murray, who is a member of the Senate Budget Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee, as well as the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

"What I think they do," Murray says, "is get everything else settled, assure everyone that the government won't shut down, solve funding for the military and everything else — and then say, 'But now we'll take away women's access to healthcare' and 'Oh, well — just let that one slip under the rug because we need [the budget] settled."

But if that's the Republicans' plan, Murray says she is ready.

"I am 100 percent on guard, and if they put something in on Planned Parenthood, we will fight them every step of the way," she says. "We won't let them hold women's health care hostage to the threat of a shutdown. If they play games, then we will shut down the government. We have done it before and we'll do it again."

Republicans have made a continual target of Planned Parenthood, as recently demonstrated by the tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence allowing the Senate to pass a bill that would permit states to eliminate Planned Parenthood as a Title X care provider. Earlier this month, this bill was signed into law by President Trump.

"On every campaign they run, they talk about their priority being the economy and jobs," Murray says of the Republicans. "But at the last minute of these kinds of negotiations, their real priority always become clear, and that's attacking women's health. It's their priority to take away women's access, and I am not going to let them use that in negotiations."

The Senator also mentions that when it comes to securing votes needed to pass bills through both chambers of Congress, the message is out there to Republicans — and the Democrats trying to work with them — that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan won't rally his caucus to get the needed votes unless a bill includes "something against women."

That's why Murray says she's going into the remainder of this week's negotiations with "eyes wide open." When it comes to Planned Parenthood, it's not just about birth control — or abortion, the cost of which the federal government is already barred from reimbursing thanks to the Hyde Amendment — but about the full range of care the organization offers people of all genders. Planned Parenthood provides services from cancer screenings and well-woman exams to transgender health care and STI testing and treatment. It's also a critical provider of care for low-income people and people of color.

"I don't know why in the 21st century [Republicans] can't come around to the idea that economic stability for women, and thus families, in this country is contingent on access to health care and getting the services women need, when they need them — from contraception and family planning to all other kinds of care," Murray says. "If you want to go to work and raise your family, you need secure access to women's health. It's really not that complicated."